Determination and benchmarking of 27Al(d,α) and 27Al(d,p) reaction cross sections for energies and angles relevant to NRA

M Salimi; O Kakuee; S F Masoudi; H Rafi-Kheiri; E Briand; J-J Ganem; I Vickridge

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97372-7

Determination and benchmarking of ²⁷Al(d,α) and ²⁷Al(d,p) reaction cross sections for energies and angles relevant to NRA

Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 10;11(1):18036. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97372-7.

Authors

M Salimi^{1

2}, O Kakuee³, S F Masoudi⁴, H Rafi-Kheiri³, E Briand², J-J Ganem², I Vickridge²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran, Iran.
² Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, INSP, SAFIR, 75005, Paris, France.
³ Physics and Accelerators Research School, NSTRI, P.O. Box 14395-836, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Physics, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran, Iran. masoudi@kntu.ac.ir.

Abstract

The cross-sections of deuteron-induced nuclear reactions suitable for ion beam analysis, measured in different laboratories, are often significantly different. In the present work, differential cross-sections of ²⁷Al(d,p) and ²⁷Al(d,α) reactions were measured, and the cross sections benchmarked with thick target spectra obtained from pure aluminium for the first time in two independent laboratories. The ²⁷Al(d,p) and (d,α) differential cross-sections were measured between 1.4 and 2 MeV at scattering angles of 165°, 150°, and 135° in the VDGT laboratory in Tehran (Iran), and the same measurements for detector angle of 150° were repeated from scratch, including target making, with independent equipment on the SAFIR platform at INSP in Paris (France). The results of these two measurements at 150° are in good agreement, and for the first time a fitted function is proposed to describe the Al-cross sections for which no suitable theoretical expression exists. The obtained differential cross-sections were validated through benchmarking, by fitting with SIMNRA deuteron-induced particle spectra obtained from a high purity bulk Al target at both labs for deuteron incident energies between 1.6 and 2 MeV. The thick target spectra are well-reproduced. The evaluated and benchmarked cross sections have been uploaded to the ion beam analysis nuclear data library database (www-nds.iaea.org/ibandl/).